Shanghai government plans an additional six
tunnels and bridges across the HuangpuRiver within the Outer Ring Road by the
end of 2020. Their construction will bring the number to 16, roughly one
every 2 kilometers.

Shanghai government plans an additional six tunnels and
bridges across the HuangpuRiver within the Outer Ring Road by the
end of 2020. Their construction will bring the number to 16, roughly one
every 2 kilometers.

Including the three tunnels
currently under construction, the plan has selected locations for six other
links, Qian Shaohua, the Shanghai Urban Planning & Design Research
Institute's director of road and transport planning department, said
yesterday.

The planned connections will
be built between:

Changjiang
Road in Puxi to the planned Jianghai Road in Pudong.

Jungong
Road in Puxi to Jinqiao Road in Pudong.

Xinjian
Road in Puxi to Pudong Road S.

Renmin Road in Puxi and Dongchang Road in Pudong.

Shilong
Road in Puxi and Yaohua Road in Pudong.

Shangzhong
Road in Puxi and the planned Huaxia Road in Pudong.

"The majority of these
connections will be tunnels, as suggested by experts," Qian said.

"A bridge may look great
but it takes up more land and leads to the reloca-tion of more
families," Qian said. "As a traffic means,
a bridge is less efficient than a tunnel."

Shanghai on both banks of the river is
currently linked by four bridges and three tunnels, excluding the Bund
sightseeing tunnel.

Of the three tunnels now
under construction, Qian said the Dalian Road Tunnel, which is set to open to
traffic by the month's end, is of great economic significance as the tunnel
will help trans-port people in and out of Pudong's Lujiazui area, the city's
major financial zone.

Under construction since May
2001, the tunnel, which has a total investment of 1.66 billion yuan (about
US$200 million), will eventually connect Dalian Road in Puxi to Dongfang Road in Pudong.

The other two tunnels now
under construction are the Xiangyin Road Tunnel connecting Xiangyin Road in Puxi with the planned Wuzhou Avenue in Pudong; and the Fuxing Road E.
Tunnel between Fuxing Road E. in Puxi and Zhangyang Road in Pudong.